Finch, a state assemblyman who has represented Cayuga County for 12 years, will have to run for re-election in a district that includes seven Onondaga County towns for the first time under new political boundaries the state Legislature was expected to approve today in Albany.

That’s one of the more dramatic changes to Central New York legislative districts that state lawmakers planned as they finished the once-a-decade redistricting process.

The Legislature also late today was expected to make a stab at revising the redistricting process with a constitutional amendment to create a new group – with no lawmakers like the current one and more a few more members – charged with drawing the political lines after the next Census count.

But that amendment would still leave the Legislature with ultimate authority to approve changes in future redistricting attempts.

As of 6 p.m. today, lawmakers had not approved the new district maps. The constitutional amendment also was not voted upon.

In Central New York, the biggest changes would involve districts represented currently by Sens. John DeFrancisco, R-Syracuse, and David Valesky, D-Oneida.

Voters in western Onondaga County would see the biggest change in the Assembly with Finch, R-Springport, picking up the towns of Elbridge, Camillus, Skaneateles, Marcellus, Spafford, Otisco and LaFayette.

Finch, a funeral director and former mayor of Aurora, has been in the Assembly since winning a special election in 1999.

He’s currently a member of committee dealing with agriculture, economic development, energy, environmental conservation and insurance. The legislation Finch introduced this session ranges from a dairy farmer bill of rights to designating special license plates for funeral directors to a bill, dating back to 2001, that would allow local governments to make decisions about mining.

Finch said he was planning to vote against the new lines, not because of geographical changes but because he believes the maps were drawn with too much partisan influence.

“The whole process is so gerrymandered,” Finch said. “There was no transparency and no public input.”

Finch’s current sprawling district includes Auburn, snakes along Cayuga County’s southwestern border, and goes east through parts of Cortland and Chenango counties before turning back again and picking up a few towns down near the Pennsylvania border.

Under the new lines, Finch would still represent Auburn but would drop towns in Broome and Tioga counties. Instead, he’d pick up about 11 percent of Onondaga County’s population.

New York is one of the last states in the nation to redraw its political boundaries based on 2010 Census data, and state leaders still have not resolved how to shrink the state’s congressional districts from 29 to 27.

At 11 a.m. Thursday, a three-judge panel will hold a hearing in Brooklyn to consider the final version of congressional maps drawn by U.S. Magistrate Roanne Mann. Others who registered with the court by noon Wednesday can speak about those maps. Then the judges are expected to rule, a move that will force the state to accept the maps.

Until those judges convene at 11 a.m., there’s still a chance the state Legislature could produce its own Congressional maps.